Why I Clean a Church (And teach history with poetry)

#teachervlog #teachertips
Take an epic journey with me...to clean a church. Along the way, I''ll share some cool things I've been doing in the classroom using songs and poetry to increase engagement!

Poem Used:

Ursula K. Le Guin

[from Ursula K. Le Guin's Sixty Odd, Shambala, 1999]

October 11, 1491

In a year and a day
they will be here.
Do not go down to the seashore!
Hide the food, the ornaments,
hide with the children in the mountains!
In a year and a day
the wizards will arrive.
Do not go forward to them!
Give them nothing!
You will see three ships come sailing in.
Out of the east the kings will come.
And the world will grow old
that morning. It will begin to die
for the first time. It will die
of the sickness of pustules,
the sickness of coughing,
the sickness of money,
the sickness of landowning,
the sickness of the old god
of the old world, the rich people.

The young world,
the red clay world
of puma, jaguar, buffalo,
of hummingbird, gourd, and sequoia,
of corn, vicuña, sacred tobacco,
the center of the six directions,
the dawn-smelling world, the fern-stem world,
will live for a year and a day.

Then you will go forward with your empty hands,
timid and smiling, and give it to them.

Other Great Poetry Resources:

[keystirling]

Hi Mr. Holyfield, its Leah Taylor! I love how you still have you soccer jersey collection on the wall. You were such an amazing teacher here and I know I owe alot of my historical knowledge to you. Keep teaching and impacting the lives of your students like always!

[chrishughesacting]

Hey Bryan, this is Chris Hughes, using my brother Jonathan’s account to watch your videos cause my account is messed up haha. I love these videos! It really makes me miss all the amazing times we had. You are doing a great job encouraging. These videos have put smiles on my face! You are one of my biggest inspirations and God has so much in store for you! Keep up the amazing work! Love the cleaning joke you made😂

[danna]

Hey Brian! Great job, Brother! You might want to check out the podcast The Literary Life - and the associated site, House of Humane Letters. They are your kind of people! ; )